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My ds12 is in CTC and sometimes he shares that he doesn't really feel like doing so much reading. We have our usual chat, he says, "Yes maam," and he goes off to complete his reading. The other day at the dinner table he shared something with me.

J: Mom, I know I say I don't feel like reading so much but actually, I like it more than I admit.

Me: Really? Hmmm, ok.

J: I actually had fun today with DITHOR. The books are really good!

Me: Yes, they are really something! I'm so glad you shared this with me!

J: Mom?

Me: Yes?

J: (mumbles) I actually like having school better than having long breaks. School is fun now.

Me: Oh my gosh! J, that is so beautiful! (I went into a rant over how happy I was then he said aloud.....

J: Ahhhhh!!!! I CANNOT BELIEVE I JUST SAID THAT!

PS. This is my kid that has never really liked school. Not liking school became a habit. He was almost afraid to admit that with HOD, school is fun and engaging. He shocked himself when he admited liking school, as this was the first time in almost 7 years that he's shown interest in school. We are only 4 months in, as we are first time HOD users, but I can't imagine using anything else with him. It looks like HOD has won him over for the long haul .

Yes, HOD has brought balanced fun into our lives as well. My dd who is doing Preparing this year has thank me time and time again for switching. I will be honestly, I was little worried about switching because before I was reading everything to everyone. I was in control of it all. But I am finding that my kids are welcoming the independence more then I thought they would. My my younger 2 are really enjoying all of the activities of Beyond immensely as well. All 3 are devouring all of the wonderful books!

Awwww, I love it! He is so funny, I know if I had a conversation like that with my DD and she said that I would probably laugh even harder and that would upset her. Well, I guess keep doing what you are doing then.

I can really relate! My dd is also working on Creation to Christ as a 12 year old. She started last spring with extensions plus one homeschool co-op class so we have been slowly making progress. Yesterday, we finished reading God King and she was soooo sad that the book was done. We hadn't had time to do Hittite Warrior so I had set it aside thinking we would read it another year. I remembered that both books are written by the same author so I pulled it off the shelf and asked her if she would like to start Hittite Warrior, and she was thrilled! We began reading right away.

Later, in the afternoon, she sat drawing in her notebooking pages when I peeked into the dining room and she covered her page and told me I would have to wait. When she had completed her drawing, she brought it to show me and her face just shone! She told me that this is why she is loving her homeschooling with HOD. She is naturally creative and HOD CtC allows her to express that side of herself. I could go on and on...... It is that good of a year!

That's awesome! This was just such fun to read - thank you so much for taking the time to share this!

In Christ,
Julie

This is AWESOME!! We were all burned out on school (including myself!), before the Lord brought us to HOD it was a drudgery... now we are in our 4th year of using HOD and we all are still LOVING school each day! So thankful!! Praying your journey continues to be as blessed as ours ...